Jamie smiled when Keely hugged him tight. “Thank ye. I’d better get her to her chamber, she needs to rest.”
Just as Jamie was about to offer to carry her abovestairs, Helen’s eyes fluttered open, confusion on her pretty face. “W-what happened?”
Jamie cradled her delicate hand in his. “Ye fainted from overexertion, I think.”
Helen gazed into his eyes. “I doona remember… Lord. The idea of confronting the council overwhelmed me.” She sat up. “Please doona think I am so delicate, Master Jamie. I am quite capable of standing on my own.”
Jamie took a step back but dinna let go of her hand. He’d been searching for an excuse to touch her, to prove a deep attraction had burgeoned between them. He’d not deny fate, but he’d do anything he could to fight against it if the outcome dinna meet his needs. And in just that innocent moment of holding her hand, his insides were aflame with desire.
Helen tested her legs, standing up slowly, relying on Jamie’s strength to keep her steady on her feet. “Forgive me for once again disturbing the peace in yer home, Laird MacKay.”
“Doona apologize,” Alex said. “Before my wife brought ye to the great hall, the council voted to grant ye sanctuary. And I couldna be happier to offer ye a home. Though the MacKay keep lacks the luxury of Dunrobin Castle, my people are kind and accommodating. Whatever ye need, ask.”
Lady Helen curtsied deeply, lowering her head in gratitude. “Thank ye, sir. Are there any preconditions to my staying here?” She straightened, meeting his steady gaze.
“Preconditions?”
“Aye,” Helen answered. “I believe my sire would consider it costs for yer generosity.”
Alex looked at his wife and Jamie, then back at Helen. “I do believe ye are a Sutherland, Lady Helen.”
“My father is a shrewd man, used to getting what he wants.”
“If ye must refer to it as a precondition, aye, there is one.”
Helen nodded.
“Within a month’s time, I will send a missive to yer father and let him know ye are alive and well. The council and I strongly agree that no father should be left in the dark about his child.”
Helen sucked in a wary breath.
“Worry not. If he sends the might of his army to retrieve ye, my men will fight to protect ye.”
Jamie observed how the color once again drained from Helen’s face. The shock of her circumstances, the hard ride from Dunrobin, and perhaps the hardship of missing her family, even though she denied it, had taken its toll on her. “I think it best if ye rest now,” Jamie said.
“Aye,” Keely agreed, placing a hand on Helen’s shoulder. “Let us go abovestairs together. We can visit the bairns and their nurse after ye rest.”
As Jamie watched the women depart, he shook his head. “If given in marriage to Laird Munroe, she’ll be dead within a fortnight.”
“Ye doona think the lady strong enough to withstand a devil like Munroe?”
“I doona think any woman could survive a night in his damnable bed.”
“Would Lady Helen be better served in yers?”
Jamie opened his mouth to say something in his own defense but quickly shut it. Alex was his laird and cousin. He knew Jamie better than anyone else and couldna lie to him, even if he wanted to. “Aye.”
“She’s been here but two days.”
“I dinna say I wanted to marry the lass.”
Alex snickered. “Ye dinna need to.”
*
Frustrated with theevents of the day, after the evening meal, a very intoxicated Jamie slinked into the bowels of the keep where Duncan Munroe slept. Several guards were on duty, and they greeted him.
“Has the bastard said anything?”
